Google maps wants you to swim

Are you wondering what's the cheapest way to go from OPorto (Portugal) to New York (United States of America)? Well, why not use Google Maps and "ask for directions"?

After clicking the "Get Directions" section in the Google Maps site, write "Oporto" to "New York" on the source and destination. On the left side of the search results, notice step 51.

Source: João Bordalo

Digital frames for your living room

That's right, digital frames are here to stay. Why keep using the same old picture frame with the same old still picture if you can now have your very own wooden-finished digital frame featuring a slideshow of your last vacation's photos, over the sound of your favourite MP3s?

If you're curious about the specifications of this gadget:

• 15 inch wide (38 cm)
  
• 1024 x 768 resolution
• 256MB of internal memory
• built-in USB port
• MPEG1/4, AVI, and MP3 playback support
• integrated stereo speakers
• ability to play nice with SD, xD, MSPro, MSDuo, CF, and MMC flash cards

All and all, it looks like a pretty good item for the living room and the announced price of $299 (220€) sounds really fair for a gadget with such good specs.

Source: Engadget

iPhone cases, already??

Ok, so the iPhone won't get out until June 2007... but some people want to get ready for the big hype surrounding the iPhone accessories.

So, industrious Chinese manufacturers are already churning out iPhone cases. The interesting thing is that they did all of this without any help from Apple and armed only with the official specs and some photographs.

Now, all they're missing are the real iPhones :-)

From: Engadget

Good-looking USB gadgets

Yes, I've asked this before: what's more to come in the world of USB? Well, it looks like the surprises will never seize.

Check out these new USB gadgets: that rice-tomato thingy is the hub while the other courses pack 1GB of flash memory.

It makes you wonder: why would you even want a burger-shaped (or fried shrimp-like) USB flash "stick"? I don't know, but my appetite is rising for a mid-morning snack.

I'll be right back! :-)

From: Engadget

WiPeer: local wireless for laptops

Read the following hypothetical situations:

• You are visiting your friends and would like to transfer photos of a shared trip from your laptop to theirs. Wouldn't it be great if you could share your files with them directly from one computer to the other?
• You are sitting in a boring lecture. You and your friends all have laptops, but your university has not installed an access point in the lecture room. Wouldn't it be great if you could play a game of Chess or Reversi against them, or even gossip with them about yesterday's football match?
• You have a home network, or even a small office network. Wouldn't it be great if you could share files among your computers without having to set up a dedicated server?

If you answered YES to any of the questions, then WiPeer is for you.

WiPeer sets up wireless peer-to-peer networks between PCs, no router, access point or internet required. The software enables sharing files directly among computers, playing multi-player games, chatting, and collaboration over both Wi-Fi and home/office networks.

Source: Lifehacker

Learn how to create special effects with Photoshop

PhotoshopCAFE has a couple dozen tutorials on creating various kinds of special effects in Photoshop. The effects include drop shadows and photographic edges to realistic reflections and built-from-scratch rope coils.

Each tutorial is broken down into small, novice-friendly steps to help beginners (and even intermediate users) learn some Photoshop fundamentals. Some also include a PSD file which you can download to see the effect firsthand.

Once you've mastered them, check here for even more.

From: Lifehacker

The weakest link in technology

People still are the weakest link in the world of technology. No matter how much advance we see in technology, there's always a point where it depends on people to make decisions. And this is where the problems start...

A U.K. woman sent her 141000€ Mercedes SL500 flying into a river because she blindly trusted the car's optimistic GPS guidance system instead of the road signs. In her head, if the GPS was telling her to turn left, then she really needed to turn. Is it possible that she didn't stop to think that, if there was a river on the left, maybe she shouldn't have turned?

Source: Engadget
Image: This is London

Nokia's new "Multimedia Computer": N95

Nokia is pushing the limits of cellphones when it comes to multimedia integration. Not only the new N95 is a full-feature 5 megapixels camera with Carl Zeiss optics lens, it also includes integrated GPS mapping where you can easily view maps of your location (and the entire world) at a street-level zoom.

The basics of the NSeries are also there: access music, emails and advanced web browsing; integration with lifeblog which allows you to instantly upload photos to Flickr and download movies from several sources.

Some more complete (juicy) specifications:

• Up to 160 MB* internal dynamic memory
• Large 2.6" QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) TFT display with ambient light detector and up to 16 million colors
• Play video, music and photos on home media network - compatible TV, stereo and PC over WLAN/UPnP
• Integrated wireless LAN (802.11 b/g)
• Zoom: Digital up to 20x (5 megapixel up to 6x)

What's more to come in the world of USB?

Nowadays, you can find all kinds of USB gadgets: for workaholics (for example, the combination coffee mug/mouse), for perfuming your environment (to avoid the stinky office), for fashionable ladies (who want to charge their devices in a portable way) and even for Hello Kitty fans.

So, it's not strange that you can also find this kind of product in the market: USB heated knee pads.

With all this stuff around, I guess we can ask ourselves: where will this USBmania take us? USB-powered ovens? USB-powered coffee machines?

You never know :-)

Source: Engadget
Image: Vavolo

The new video game arcade

Here's the new era of video gaming! A hybrid movie theater with all the digital fire and fury of a video game: fog, black light, flashing green lasers, high-definition digital projectors, vibrating seats, game pads and dozens of 17-inch screens attached to individual chairs.

Called Cinegames, this small theater in a huge Spanish suburban multiplex stands at the front lines where video games are invading movie territory, transforming isolated computer play into community entertainment.

Imagine a little play of Call of Duty on this baby :-)

Source: Emerging Media News